
The Veteran (Semi) Professional
Honesty and advice to help veterans crush it at grad school, in entrepreneurship, and in professional careers. Humor and language often not as professional.
Episodes
241 episodes
Ep. 237: How To Leverage Your Network and Veteran Status to Buy Small Businesses with Rob Kirila
Rob retired from the Army as a Special Forces officer and then spent time working with a veteran transition nonprofit. He was often the one raising money and that put me in contact with a lot of high-net-worth individuals. Af...
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Ep. 236: Early Career Pivots After HBS and Being OK With Leadership with Jack Ambridge
Jack is an Air Force veteran who went to HBS. He was told "everyone thinks of veterans as "leaders" but don't let that define you" Turns out, Jack liked leading people. He liked being labeled a "leader." So ...
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Ep. 235: Improving the Veteran Transition Experience through Data and Corporate Insights with Jason Anderson from PreVeteran
Jason Anderson is a former Air Force O-6 who retired from the military and started what looked like was his dream job. Business development in a sector of the Air Force he knewGot to live in JapanMaking GREAT ...
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51:19
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Ep. 234: Focused Career Prep For $100k+ Jobs for Veterans with Bobby Payne from Shift Group
Today's guest is Bobby Payne from Shift Group. He is an Air Force veteran and a really awesome guy who I've gotten to know a lot more recently. Since starti...
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41:37
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Ep. 233: What Happens When You Buy a Business and It Fails? Real Talk on Failing with Air Force Veteran Jed Morris
I have had a lot of guests on the show to talk about buying a small business. From lenders, buyers, and investors- everyone seems to be saying, "Go buy a business! You will make a ton of money and can't go wrong!"
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Ep. 232: Combat Games by Combat Veterans and Veterans of the Video Game Industry with Old Glory Studios
Gaming culture is huge in the military. Video games are a way to blow off steam on a deployment, stay connected with friends around the world, and just have fun. So I'm really excited to bring this episode to you about two com...
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45:12
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Ep. 231: Using Military Experience and Veteran Status to Buy Logistics Companies with Donte McGaughy
Donte McGaughy is a seasoned entrepreneur, former government employee, and a United States Air Force service-disabled veteran. As the Founder and CEO of Selenius Holdings, an Atlanta-based freight forwarding and truck hauling company, Donte is ...
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Ep. 230: WeWork, Buying 2x HVAC Businesses, and Recruiting Veterans for Small Business Leadership Roles with Nathan Lenahan
I really like Nate. He's just...a good dude. He's got some serious business chops, too. He led $200 million in projects for WeWork and was a VP for a whole region. Then he dove into the world of bu...
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Ep. 229: Using AI to Get $100 million to Veterans at Vetclaims.ai with Lukas Simianer
Lukas is a previous guest and we talk about the VC-backed startup from our first episode that he shut down. But his new project, Vetclaims.ai , is pretty awesome. ...
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45:08
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Ep 228: A Deep Dive on the VA Home Loan with Mortgage Expert Chris Wesson
Today we have a conversation going into all the ins and out of the VA home loan with former Marine and mortgage expert, Chris Wesson.
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31:04
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Ep. 227: Rich Routines for Business, Family, and Wealth with Steve Houghton
I got connected with Steve from a guy on X (formerly, Twitter). Steve has been INCREDIBLY successful and was very gracious with his time to discuss his new book:
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Ep. 226: Living Abroad, Running Online Businesses, and Building a Great Life with Family with Alex Lisot
Alex went from flying fighter jets to running an e-commerce company, living abroad, and investing in real estate. He is one of the coolest cats I've met-enjoy!
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36:55
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Ep. 225: Starting a CBD Company, Finding a Purposeful Career, and Enlisted to MBA with Alexander Mikhailovsky
Alex is a first-year MBA student and founder of Organic Grit, a CBD company. We talk about founding a company on active duty, applying to MBA programs, and choosing a purposeful career.&n...
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40:45
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Ep. 224: Running a $700 Million Company That Helps Business Owners Build Wealth with Mike Stone from CertaPro Painters
I've had a number of franchisees and business owners on the show, but Mike is the first from the side of a franchisor (think: corporate). He is the CEO of CertaPro Painting, where he gets to see how locations across the country perform in...
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37:14
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Ep. 223: Heading to Medical School After the Military with Air Force Veteran Austin Almand
First- Austin would be on my short list for Most Interesting Man in the World. - Air Force SOF- Casually mentions going to Ukraine (during the war) - Tillman Scholar - Researched medicine for NASAPlus ...
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52:24
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Ep. 222: Owning a Home Inspection Franchise after a Career in the Military and Law Enforcement with Shawn Degan
Shawn spent time in law enforcement and retired from the Navy and then decided he wanted to own his own business. He partnered with WIN Home Inspections and has been loving every bit of it.
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35:57
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Ep. 221: Using Surfing To Heal Veterans with Stephanie Dasher from Warrior Surf
Today's guest is Stephanie Dasher, executive director of Warrior Surf Foundation (WSF), a Charleston nonprofit founded in May 2015. WSF works...
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31:11

Ep. 220: Running a Financial Services Business to Connect with Your Community and Contribute to Veterans with Brian McCarver
Brian left the army and moved back home, eventually buying a small financial services firm and growing it. We talk about how that helps tie him into his local community and how he uses his network and business to give back to other vetera...
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Ep. 219: Using Military Experience to Consult with F500 Companies and Build in Private Equity with Afterburner, Inc. Founder and Chairman Jim Murphy
Afterburner Fighter Pilots - Motivational Keynote SpeakersDown Range: A Transitioning Veteran's...
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40:34

Ep. 218: Former Marine to 22% Lifetime Returns Investing In Stocks with Erik Smolinski
Erik is the first stock trader I've had on the podcast and he talks about how he got started in investing and why he loves this path for building wealth.
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53:22

Ep. 217: Air Force Veteran Jon Stoddard on Buying Businesses
Jon is a prominent voice in the business acquisition community and got his start in buying businesses after leaving the Air Force. Resources Mentioned:
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44:00
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Ep. 216: The Art of the Career Pivot with Kathy Borkoski (Ex- Stunt Performer, Big Tech, Gov, Con, and Navy EOD)
Kathy has QUITE a story. She's bounced around from industry and industry and mastered the art of changing careers. Listen how this Navy EOD veteran went from the military to being a stunt performer to names like Facebook and Crossfi...
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45:56

Ep. 215: Navy SEAL to Private Equity and Launching a Search Fund with Jack Ogden of Island Search
I've had a lot of people on the show talk about buying businesses and have tangentially mentioned the traditional search fund model before, but Jack Ogden is the first guest on the show who is currently running a search fund. R...
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